Sports such as baseball and softball involve hitting a ball with a bat. Being proficient at hitting a baseball and a softball requires practice. Many different types of training devices have been developed over the years to help players become more skilled at hitting. The most common practice device presently used for hitting practice is a hitting tee of the type that has a stationary stand on which the baseball or softball sits. The height of the hitting tee, and thus the ball when it is on the hitting tee, is usually adjustable.
While this type of hitting tee is generally easy to use and enables the hitter to hit balls that are unaltered, it has several drawbacks. For example, because the ball is resting on top of the tee, a hitter necessarily must hit the tee when hitting the bottom half of the ball, which is required to obtain an upward ball trajectory. To avoid striking the tee, the hitter may have a tendency to hit less desirable areas of the ball, such as the middle or upper half of the ball, thereby engraining bad swing habits.
Some other training devices for hitting include a ball suspended from a tether. In most instances, the ball is fixed to the tether in a way that the ball remains attached to the tether after the ball is hit. As such, the hitter is at risk of being hit by the ball as it swings around the support structure. In addition, the hitter is unable to determine if the ball was struck properly because the hitter is unable to observe the flight of the ball.
Attempts have been made to create practice hitting tee that overcomes the problems discussed above. For example, practice hitting devices have been suggested that include a ball removably secured to the end of a structure or line from which it is suspended. The ball releases from the line when the user strikes the ball with enough force to break the elements holding the ball in place. However, with such devices, the ball is required to be altered relative to regulation balls in way that allows the ball to be releaseably attached to the tether. By requiring an altered ball, the hitter again does not get realistic feedback on the flight of a type of ball that will be used in a game situation. Moreover, a hitter will be required to purchase a significant number of the altered balls to practice efficiently and effectively.
In another example, U.S. Publication No. 2009/0082140 discloses a batting apparatus that employs a suction cup suspended from a tether. The suction cup is configured such that it only temporarily supports a baseball or softball due to the porous nature of the covers of baseballs and softballs. As such, a hitter must quickly ready himself to strike the ball after attaching the suction cup to the ball. In addition, the hitter must face the risk of injury due to the tether spinning around the support structure. Alternatively, the hitter can wait until the ball drops from the suction cup. In the case of the latter, the ball is moving downwardly and is not covered in any way that would train a hitter to strike preferred areas of the ball.
To this end, a need exists for practice hitting tee that allows a hitter to practice hitting an unaltered ball with a bat in a way that the practice hitting tee safely encourages a batter to strike the bottom half of the bottom while providing realistic feedback to the hitter. It is to such a practice hitting tee that the inventive concepts disclosed herein are directed.